The following is a short list of my top apps that are must haves and work well specifically for the Motorola Droid. Just my two cents. [Now Updated!]
0. K-9 is a an alternative mail reader to replace the default Android mail app. While it has a few issues and some bugs here and there, it is a much much better solution for reading mail on your phone and is highly configurable.
1. Home++ replaces the home navigation system with a highly customizable and powerful application. Allows for the increase of screens with apps/icons, overloads lots of information and links in a strip across the bottom. It does crash from time to time (really just restarts the app) but I find it FAR superior to the built in home screen management.
2. SMS Popup better notifications for SMS messages- I prefer this as it actually opens the message in a modal window on your phone without having to open the messaging app (make sure to turn off default notifications from the built in messaging app)
2.5 Swype is a pre-release software package that is a totally new way to type. You just drag your finger across the keyboard without ever lifting it and it guess the word. It requires a little more back-end work to install as it is not in the app store yet, but I have found it to be pretty great, and is *especially* good for one handing typing as you can just drag your thumb. It’s in beta but they do give access to users.
3. NewsRob an RSS reader that syncs with google reader for your feeds. Very slick and well done and makes reading your feeds excellent on your phone and avoids repeat content sorting. You can use the volume keys to article up or down- makes reading your feeds on the go a snap.
4. Yelp & OpenTable pretty self explanatory, both good apps
5. Advanced Task Killer is a must for keeping control of what your phone is running and shutting down power hungry processes. Also try Advanced Task Manager which is a much more powerful but similar app.
6. Amazon, Barcode Scanner & Shop Savvy are three well known and solid shopping apps
7. Night Ringer is a great app for automatically changing volumes, vibration and other notification based on time of day. You have to upgrade to get the full functionality (like selecting several emergency numbers to turn the volume on) but a good app if you don’t want drunk friends or opposite coast people waking you up in the middle of the night. If you DO want that, don’t use this app.
8. Last.fm is probably the best music app for Android.
9. Evernote app is basic but good if you are a user of the product. Next iterations should allow for local storage of content when the Android OS allows access to SD card memory vs only the built in memory.
10. Wixel is a great boggle like game with online game play
11. WaveSecure allows you to lock down your phone or even erase it via SMS if it gets lost or stolen.
12. Calorie Counter and Cardio Trainer are decent health/lifestyle apps. Not as good as ones on the iphone (IMHO)- Calorie Counter does have a nice barcode scan feature with the camera, but managing your food is a little clunky. Cardio Trainer is a great GPS based app for working out outside and tracking where you go, but if you are a serious athlete or really want precise distances for times/splits you’ll find it too inaccurate. Here’s a review of the accuracy of WorkSmart’s CardioTrainer
13. NYTimes has an android app now that let’s your browse and read content sections, slide between stories and generally read the paper pretty efficiently. It is a little slow, but a good app non-the-less.
14. NPR along the same vein as the NYTimes NPR has a solid app to read news with the upside of being able to listen to stories directly from the phone by streaming them which is a really nice feature.
15. WTD What the Doodle is a great pictionary like game you can play in real time against people drawing on the touch screen and using the keyboard to guess words. Totally worth the $1.50 upgrade (free version is good too)
16. Skype Skype on your phone, call anywhere anytime on Skype from your handset…nuff said
17. Dialer One replaces your current phone dialer with a much better functionality and allows easy addition of new numbers. Best part is you using number pad to type a name and pull it out of your address book.
18. DoubleTwist Great music and video player and with a desktop client is a great way to sync music and itunes playlists to your phone.
19. Androsonos While this app is kind of buggy and not the most elegent, if you have the Sonos sound system you can control it from your android phone, at last. A for effort.
20. PDANet If you don’t have 2.2 or higher of Android you can use this to quickly and easily tether your laptop to the 3G network. Works like a charm!
21. Drync Clearly the best way to track, find and learn about wines. I love this because when you find something you like you can easily stick in in your “cellar” and buy it at the store next time.
Other notable apps that you may have seen on lots of other lists:
Google Sky Map- awesome if you like stars
Google Earth- just amazing
DockRunner- allows you to run the Droid like it was in its alarm clock docking cradle without the cradle
Meebo- IM
Twitdroid- Twitter client (meh, twitter)
Qik- stream video in real time from your phone to the web (totally sweet)
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